Work Text:
October 2028, Original timeline, Plainsboro Township, New Jersey
“Max, I wish to be supportive, I do, but if you really can bring someone back with you, it should be me.”
“No, Chloe. It has to be her.”
“It’s fucking Victoria Chase. Damn it! I know what she has done. I know she has helped. But I am your captain, your wife, your soulmate. It’s just you and me against the world. Forever.”
“I know. You have suffered. You were there with me throughout all of those things. And everything I did, I did for you. And this is something I am doing for your sake, too.”
“Yeah, choosing Victoria. Totally sounds like something you’re doing for me.”
“By going back, we can save almost everyone. Rachel, Arcadia Bay, so many of those test subjects Rouch Technologies killed and maimed for their twisted purposes.”
“And I wanna help.”
“But Chloe, we cannot achieve success without making sacrifices. We need Victoria’s resources in 2012. We need her experience as an FBI agent and Mark Jefferson’s abductee. And if it comes to that, it will be her. I will give up on her for the sake of a greater cause. Not you, Chloe. Do you understand? That’s why it has to be her who will go back in time with me.”
“You’re just saying that, aren’t you? To please me. So I won’t feel like such useless shit that you’ve chosen Victoria over me.”
“I say that because it’s true. And none of this makes me happy. You’re my everything. And she has come a long way from who she was. I wished there was a future for her. Maybe there will be eventually. But frankly, if it ever comes to that sacrifice, I will always choose your future over hers.”
“Why… why didn’t you tell me sooner, Max? That she’s expendable.”
“Look, Chloe, it’s not like I intend to give up on her. But it can come to that. And it’s still a vicious, nasty plan I put together. I am using Victoria right now. And I just didn’t want you to see me as a vicious, nasty person. So that’s why I didn’t tell you. But if it works, you won’t remember any of this. We can’t save your dad, but we can fix almost everything else. Mark Jefferson, the tornado, and most importantly, we can stop Rouch Technologies and their experiments on humans. No more time travel. And what you will remember of the last 15 years, if it all works… you’ll have memories of happiness, not suffering. And maybe Victoria can stay unharmed after all this. But if not, her sacrifice is the most logical choice. At the end of the day, we will remember her but also miss her less. It sounds harsh. Still, using her is the greatest profit at minimal cost.”
“What about Steph?”
“Victoria meant nothing to Steph until she knew. And it happened in 2023. With Rachel back in the picture…”
“Damn. It is a vicious plan. I can’t unsee that. And it comes from someone who is not Victoria Chase’s fan at all. Still, you’re not vicious, Max. Or nasty. You have to make all those decisions, again and again. None of them easy. I can’t possibly imagine what you’ve been through. Living so many timelines. That’s why I want to be by your side as much as I can.”
“I get it, Chloe. I do. But think about it. If the situation were reversed, wouldn’t you choose my happiness? Wouldn’t you choose me not remembering any of this?”
“I would. Always.”
Chloe leans in to kiss Max. If someone kicked the crystal vase Aunt Caroline gave Victoria for her 33rd birthday, they wouldn’t even flinch. They only have eyes for each other. She is still tempted, though. Steph hates the vase. Someone getting rid of it would delight her. On the other hand, Aunt Caroline is one of the few family members who isn’t a complete moron. Well, her father definitely wasn’t a moron either. Not a nice person, but not a moron. He’d love the vase. But Rowan Chase has been dead for many years.
Victoria sneaks out of their living room, leaving the vase to rest in peace. The conversation she eavesdropped on isn’t exactly the best thing since sliced bread. No one would like to hear they are just cannon fodder. Still, she has already decided. There is no going back. Well, metaphorically speaking. Technically, going back is the only option. So, she returns to the underground of their flawless suburban house, leaving the two lovebirds to their swan song.
Two weeks ago, it was just an ordinary basement. Treadmill, weight bench, and dumbbell rack on Victoria’s side and drums and keyboard on Steph’s. All gone now. Just a big TV screen, Steph pacing back and forth, and Alex Chen failing miserably to calm her down. Oh, and of course the four special tanks stolen from Rouch Technologies. Two of them are waiting for Victoria and Max. Teen siblings Mauro and Daria, who are in an electrically induced coma, already occupy the other two. They saved them from Rouch. As meta-humans, they both possess a similar ability to Max’s. They are not in control of it, though. Max believes with their involvement, she can enhance her own powers and take Victoria back with her to 2012.
“Is everything set? They are coming,” Victoria asks Alex. There is no point in talking to Steph. She wouldn’t answer, anyway. She is utterly crossed with her. Alex nods and gives her a small smile. She is a meta-human, too. Unlike Daria and Mauro, Rouch Technologies did not create Alex Chen or Max Caulfield. Their roots go a lot deeper. During her time with the FBI, Victoria has learned a lot about meta-humans. Everything started in the early 30’s with Program UMBRELLA. J. Edgar Hoover established it. Its purpose was to create better agents. The FBI handpicked them at a very young age and systematically trained them to become effective tools of justice. They were supposed to work as one, as a shield against enemies of the United States of America.
The US Military took the concept over during WWII. And, as always, the military mixed it up drastically and chose a shortcut. The participants agreed to take an experimental substance with no knowledge of its real purpose—to alter a human genome. It worked at first. All the test subjects experienced a significant boost in strength, endurance, cognitive functions, or regeneration. Yet, phase II of the UMBRELLA project ended as an absolute disaster. Everyone in the first two control groups died. Their membrane structure practically dismantled. It was horrendous. Dr. Kesselheim, the lead scientist, was skating on thin ice. The rumor had it that many demanded his head. Yet the military command afforded him another chance. Under one condition: no more deaths. Or his own life would be at stake.
Bound by regulations, Kesselheim had to be cautious. Because of that, Phase III brought no measurable results.
With the whole space race against the USSR, the government eventually lost interest in meta-humans and ceased funding Program UMBRELLA.
All the participants were allowed to resume their lives. They had nothing to offer, anyway. Wrecked by his failure, Kesselheim disappeared somewhere in South America.
Several decades later, state agencies began encountering criminal cases that defied traditional explanations. Occurrences that broke the laws of physics. That’s why X-Folders were founded. The FBI wished to find those with special abilities and help them. To repair what had been done. Because these people could be dangerous to themselves and to others. Said the official story.
The task was anything but easy. Conventional methods couldn’t trace meta-humans. Many records were destroyed. Blood samples wouldn’t help either, as the altered gene appeared normal until it was activated or triggered.
Unfortunately, the initial goal, the purpose of the X-Folders, was twisted by ambitious individuals in the government who had no respect for the law and who flouted it with impunity. Men behind Rouch Technologies. Men who did not aim to help these people but use their genome.
Victoria joined the FBI to take down Mark Jefferson. The serial killer who abducted and tortured many young girls. Including her. Once she was done with him, she thought it was over. When the offer came to work on the X-Folders, she had no intention of accepting. She only wanted her happy ending with Steph Gingrich, her only love. Max Caulfield, a mysterious figure from Victoria’s past who repeatedly appeared in her present, convinced her otherwise. Alongside Alex Chen, Max was one of these individuals, descendants of Kesselheim’s sinister experiments. Whether it happened intentionally or accidentally, his work had been successful. Meta-humans were here with them. Genomes have developed through the lineage, and the evolution of DNA got completed in the third and fourth generations of the original participants of Phase III.
The ultimate goal of Dr. Kesselheim was to create a shifter. A human whose mind could shift back and forth through their memories and experiences. And at any time, this person could affect the surrounding reality. When the FBI Assistant Director Kersch asked Victoria to work on the X-Folders, targeting extraordinary events, it was because Rouch Technologies believed she was a shifter. Because somehow, she was there every time Max Caulfield altered reality to the extent it caused a tachyon field of massive scale. Arcadia Bay, Washington D.C., Denver. So Rouch wanted Victoria close, to prove their assumption was right and then harness her. Anyone who would control the first shifter would control the fate of the world. Max convinced Victoria to join and play along. She saw it as their best chance to take Rouch down.
Though Steph had reservations and didn’t consider it Victoria’s fight, she chose Max over Steph that day in 2025 and accepted the FBI’s offer to reinstate her status as a special agent.
Finally, a couple of days ago, they hit the very heart of Rouch Technologies. What they found was beyond anything anyone could call atrocities. Dozens of clones in tanks. The records documented the deaths of many more who had been used for altering the timeline. It is by far the biggest felony in human history. Despite Victoria’s involvement in exposing it, she still doesn’t feel any better. She has been hurting Steph again and again. Even when she has loved her from the very first moment, her eyes laid on her. And she is about to hurt her one more time. Because Steph deserves better than this, better than Victoria. She wants to give her a future that isn’t tainted by the twisted reality they currently live in.
There is a thud coming from the basement doors. Hand in hand, Mrs. and Mrs. Price make their way down the stairs. A wave of tension washes over Victoria. She wishes to be a better person, but she struggles with jealousy. No matter what happens, Max and Chloe have these last moments of tenderness while Steph can’t even look at her. It’s unbearable. Victoria has to let her know how much she means to her, regardless of whether she listens. She turns on her heel, only to find her hand slipping into hers. As she speaks, Steph’s eyes, the most stunning green eyes in the world, beg her.
“Victoria, you don’t have to do this.” She’s not angry anymore. She’s desperate. And Victoria is done. She’s dropping the save-the-future trip and staying here with her. She wants to tell her, but Max steps in.
“Of course she has to.” Despite its urgency, Max’s voice remains soft. “Rouch already knows who crippled their research. Who stole their most valuable clones. They can be here any minute coming for Victoria. For her and for the woman who matters the most to her. We need a pre-emptive strike. We need to end them for good and we need to start back in 2012. They do not expect that.”
“Well, why don’t you take some of your meta-human buddies, then?” Steph squeezes Victoria's hand tighter as if it could prevent her from going back. Her throat dries.
“Daniel Diaz was five in 2012. Mick Rory was in jail. Besides Warren’s tape, his school project is our best option. So it has to be someone from Arcadia Bay. Someone who is on the tape and still alive.” Max reiterates what has already been said countless times—the list is far from extensive.
“Chloe is on the tape. And she already knew you in 2012. Victoria didn’t.” Steph hails. They discussed this before as well. Even though Max didn’t provide as many details as Victoria overheard a few moments ago in the living room.
“Yes, but Chloe’s parents weren’t Seattle’s nobility with unlimited finances. And she didn’t become a seasonal FBI agent who honed her abilities to lie, cheat, fight, and destroy to the maximum. Victoria’s experiences are essential.”
Victoria fully understands the importance of her role in the plan. The sight of Steph breaking down, though, causes her determination to crumble. Could there still be a way out? The question pops up in her head.
“I’d be careful with the word lie, Max,” she says. “2012 Victoria Chase is definitely a much better liar than I am. And I am still not sure if she… Well, if I, the younger me, can be convinced to change her antics. We need to give our younger selves space, too. But if we are going to alter the timeline and I will never encounter Jefferson’s torture, how will I become me? This version of me. Who actually can help.”
“Because it’s in you, Victoria. It’s always been. No matter what happens,” Max encourages Victoria and turns back to her loved one. “Now please, Chloe, it’s time. All of you need to leave.” Chloe nods and prompts Alex to check the TV one last time before their departure.
“Victoria, don’t go. You gave me a promise.”
Steph pulls Victoria into her arms. It’s killing her to see her loved one like this. But she has to admit Max is right. “Steph, you won’t remember any of this,” Victoria reassures her. “Your mum will be safe. No more encounters with serial killers and government assassins. No more haunting dreams making you scream in the middle of the night. You won’t remember—”
“YOU. I won’t remember you.” With her palms on Victoria’s chest, Steph leans her forehead against her neck. “I won’t remember how you kissed me for the first time. How you told me I should not give up on finding my fairy-tale princess.” Tears fill her eyes as she looks into Victoria’s. “Well, guess what, Victoria? I did find her, and now you’re making me forget?”
“Steph.”
“Fuck.” She pushes Victoria aside and removes her wedding band. “I’m done.” Steph throws it at her lover. “Do whatever you want. You always do.”
She dashes out of the basement. There’s a voice inside Victoria’s head telling her to go after Steph. But she doesn’t. She kneels down and reaches out to touch the white gold on the floor. As the ring glides down her middle finger, the scorching liquid stains her cheeks. Victoria believed she was doing the right thing all along. But she only hates herself more now. “May we meet again, my love.” She collects herself by taking a few deep breaths and wiping her tears away.
When she stands up, the only conscious person around the basement is Max. She appears funny in a special tank swimsuit while standing next to the pile of her clothes. Victoria would crack a smile if she wasn’t completely miserable.
Max's eyes overflow with compassion, yet she cannot accept it. Not yet.
She places her knee over the tank’s rim and lets it slip in. The freezing, cooling solution instantly soaks into her pants. She can hardly feel it, though.
“Whoa, whoa, Vic. Don’t you wanna take your clothes off first?”
“Is it necessary?” She mumbles.
“Well, no. I guess.”
“Then I don’t.” Victoria sinks into the tank, her body fully submerged. Closing her eyes, she reflects on the fucking irony of it all. That a way to a new future needs me to be under the water.
“Are you ready?” Max’s words come a few moments later, and Victoria senses her hand connecting with hers. It feels strange. But she doesn’t flinch.
“I eavesdropped on your conversation in the kitchen.” Victoria’s tone is not accusatory, just purely informative.
“I know you did. That’s why I said what I said.”
“Who are you lying to, then? To me or Chloe?”
“I’m not lying to any of you.”
She keeps her eyes shut. Max’s words seemed genuine. She ponders whether she could discern a flicker of falsehood in her gaze if she dared look. But she doesn’t. “What do you want from me?” Victoria asks instead.
“Nothing. You’re not doing this for me or duty or your country. You want the same thing I do.”
“Atonement.” It surprises her how quickly the word escapes her lips. “What if it doesn’t work?” She adds hesitantly.
“It has to, Victoria.” Max gives her hand a gentle squeeze. “It has to. You know the drill. Recalibrate all three Tachyon towers in Oregon and the rest in Washington. Then find me ASAP. Until then, upload every recording. What you have now is a few seconds as part of the old Warren Graham AV project. But I trust you to make the most of it. The uploads are the key. In theory, our space is unlimited. Every moment, every place that will be recorded and uploaded is our chance. Our link between past and present. Well, future. Another future. We can relive everything that we can record. And also alter. With Mauro and Daria’s support, we can be there for a year. Two even, perhaps. We got this, Victoria.”
“Max?” She shifts a little and directs her gaze towards Max. She’s down in the tank as Victoria is, and there is a remote control in her other hand. That could only mean their time jump is just one click away.
“Yeah?”
“I was talking about the atonement.”
“Oh.”
“You don’t believe that I can be atoned, do you?”
“Maybe you don’t believe it, Victoria. And what if it’s me who cannot be atoned?” Max says. It doesn’t come out as a topic for discussion, though. There’s something truly profound in her tone.
“Redemption is for everyone who seeks it.” Surprisingly, Victoria sounds a lot less heavy. Do her words belong to Max? Or is she cajoling herself? She is not sure. But the time has come. “Come on, let’s do this.”
Max gives Victoria a nod and presses play. The screen in front of them comes to life. An immense power pulls her up. The world around spins in a crazy whirl. Until Victoria looks into the familiar dark blue eyes.
“So she said—”
“Courtney?”
“No, why would she say that, V?”
“Oh, God, Courtney.” Victoria throws her arms around her long-dead best friend, who is very much alive in front of her. So, she’s in. 2012, here I am, back in the past, she thinks. It worked. What kind of future lies ahead? That is another question.